


Luminiferous

by Lucifra



Series: One Insurgent Butterfree Flaps its Wings [4]
Category: Pocket Monsters | Pokemon (Anime), Pocket Monsters | Pokemon - All Media Types, Pokemon Fan Games, Pokemon Insurgence
Genre: Aether Foundation (Pokemon), BAMF Lillie, BAMF Satoshi | Ash Ketchum, Canon is still being messed with, Canon-Typical Violence, Cross-Posted on FanFiction.Net, Data theft, Kinda, Perfection cult, Pokemon Battles, Pokemon cults, Satoshi | Ash Ketchum Has Aura Powers, and also why he can take a tri attack like nobody's business, it's all offscreen but she does manage to take out her fair share of enemies, that's why he doesn't get paralyzed
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2020-06-20
Updated: 2020-06-20
Packaged: 2021-03-04 04:28:36
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 4,059
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/24817627
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/Lucifra/pseuds/Lucifra
Summary: Perfection is assaulting the Aether Foundation. Unfortunately for them, Ash Ketchum just so happened to be visiting, and is having exactly None Of It.
Relationships: Lilie | Lillie & Satoshi | Ash Ketchum, Satoshi no Pikachu | Ash Ketchum's Pikachu & Satoshi | Ash Ketchum, Satoshi | Ash Ketchum & Lusamine, Satoshi | Ash Ketchum & Satoshi no Pigeot | Ash Ketchum's Pidgeot
Series: One Insurgent Butterfree Flaps its Wings [4]
Series URL: https://archiveofourown.org/series/1753819
Comments: 1
Kudos: 41





	Luminiferous

**Author's Note:**

> The Luminiferous Ether was the hypothetical medium through which it was believed that light propagated before it was proven to be self-propagating.

“Sir, everyone’s ready for the next move.” Maria Calaveras, Team Rocket plant, was standing at attention, waiting for Taen to respond.

“You’ve ensured that the Sonic Neutralizers have been distributed properly? We can’t be too careful with Aether.” The arrogant tone he always took grated on her nerves, and his doubting every act she took spoke to just how asinine the man could be.

“Yes sir. Everyone has also been issued proper ear protection.” Her spine remained ramrod straight, the only sign of her displeasure with the man being the stiffness with which she held herself.

“Very well.” He rose from the chair in which he was seated, crossing over to a rack of Poké Balls and selecting decidedly more than the standard six to bring with him. “Load the vehicles, I’ll be there momentarily.” He flicked his hand negligently in her general direction, and she turned and stalked out of the room.

When she arrived in the room of the staging area they had designated the meetup room, the chattering of voices silenced as the contractors hired for the job turned to her.

“Get in the trucks, we’re moving out as soon as the boss is ready.” Internally, she winced at the necessity of calling anyone but Giovanni “boss”.

Once she was alone in the room, she reached into her pocket and withdrew a box with a few buttons on top. She made sure to keep her arm down by her side as she swept the room, doing one last check to see if anything had been left behind even as she tapped the buttons on the box, preparing a coded message to be sent to Giovanni.

She finished the message just as Taen entered the room, nodded at her, then swept forward, white coat billowing behind him as she followed him to their next mission.

_Taen moving on Aether, seeking data_

Giovanni frowned, seeing the message Proton had brought to him. “We don’t have any operatives anywhere near Aether Paradise, do we.”

Even though Proton knew it wasn’t a question, he nodded. “The closest are JJM, who are trying to make contact with Guzma and set up something we can use to protect the region where Aether can’t.”

Giovanni frowned. “If JJM is in Alola, then where is Ketchum?”

Even though Proton didn’t smile, something about the way his body language sharpened betrayed a vicious sense of glee. “Visiting an old friend of his on Aether Paradise.”

A smile spread across Giovanni’s face, with even his considerable talent at controlling his expressions failing him. “Excellent. Send a message to JJM, they are to act as clean-up if needed after the altercation that I’m expecting. They likely won’t be needed, but they will be there if they are. I’ll send Archer and Ariana to manage the negotiations with Team Skull, just in case.”

* * *

Ash was enjoying his time on Aether Paradise (on the whole, at least), and, if his excited cries from where he was playing with Lillie in the conservation area were any indication, Pikachu was as well. They hadn’t been back to visit Alola since his victory in the Mahalo conference, and that was more than a year ago.

Unfortunately, his visit wasn’t (primarily) for leisure. The Aether Foundation had to be made aware of the threat Perfection posed-while they hadn’t had the greatest numbers when Ash had visited Torren, their experiments with Pokémon genetics more than made up for that lack. Adding in the fact that Taen had had two legendary dragons even before joining them, as well as that Reukra was strong enough to become the Torren Champion before Amber had challenged him and earned the title of Augur, all pointed to a terrifying level of danger that the pretentiously-named group exhibited to its foes.

Unfortunately, Lusamine was focusing entirely on the wrong aspects of the situations.

“There is no way that Taen has both a Kyurem and a Zekrom. There is only one Tao Trio, and they are under the protection of Team Plasma’s N!” Lusamine shouted, dismissing the multi-Champion’s words.

“Look, it doesn’t make any sense to me either. Amber tried to explain things to me, but all I really ended up getting is that Torren used to be in a separate world before an incident with a crystal thing that was important to both Giratina and Arceus. Even without the issue of the legendary dragons, Taen has at least one Mewtwo, maybe more, and he even managed to stand up to Professor Oak!” Ash ran his hand over the top of his hat, frustrated.

“Hmm. That very well could be a threat.” Ash sighed, relieved that he finally had gotten through to Lusamine. “What do you know of his motivations?”

“Not a whole lot. Amber said they were always trying to make the perfect Pokémon after she met with Reukra and got her Mega Ring, but beyond that, we don’t know what their goals are.” Ash tapped on his leg nervously, something just outside of his mental reach was telling him to be on his guard.

After a moment of contemplation, Lusamine asked, “Do you think they might be after data on Type:Null and Silvally?”

“That’s… certainly a possibility, if they come here, but data on the Ultra Beasts or an Ultra Wormhole generator might be their target instead. There’s just so much that they could see as helpful to their cause that it’s hard to pick out just one thing that they might want.” Ash shrugged. “They might even be after some of the Pokémon you have here, since they do tend to be on the rarer end.”

“Hmm. Very well. I trust Mr. Faba will be an adequate guard for the data levels, as well as the scientist-guards we have stationed there.” Lusamine withdrew a tablet and stylus from where it had been secured to her back and began writing out orders.

Despite the uneasy feeling Ash had in his gut, he couldn’t think of any rational reason this wouldn’t be adequate, and said as much.

“Excellent. I do hope you’ll stay the night, it’s getting to be quite late.” Ash looked down at his Pokétch, surprised to find it was almost 4:30 PM.

“Sure, it’d be nice to catch up with you and Lillie.” Ash smiled, then followed Lusamine as she started to walk towards the conservation area, likely to retrieve her daughter.

They passed the green-goggled Mr. Faba on their way to the outdoors portion, and Lusamine tapped a button on her tablet that sent a piece of paper shooting out of the bottom. “Ah, excellent timing, Mr. Faba. For the time being, you’re being assigned to protect the data centers against potential intruders.” She handed him the sheet of paper. “Take this to the equipment center first, you’re being issued both an Alakazite and an Aloraichium Z to better aid your efforts.”

For a split second, Ash saw a flash of some emotion in the scientist’s face-disdain, perhaps?-but it vanished after a split second, and he nodded. “Certainly, Madam President! None shall pass a defense headed by myself!”

“I knew I could count on you.”

* * *

“So, Ash. What have you been up to since you left Alola?” asked Wicke.

“Oh, not a whole lot. I went back home to visit Mom and Professor Oak for a few days, then I took the Galar Gym Challenge. I challenged the Galar League, but right in the middle of things, Chairman Rose decided to unleash this weird dragon thing called Eternatus, so Champion Leon and I had to deal with that. Otherwise, not a whole lot.” Ash shrugged.

Lillie blinked. “Wait, that was you? We don’t get a whole lot of Galarian news coverage across the world in Alola, so we never heard who it was who fought the legendary.”

Ash shrugged. “I mean, it’s not a huge deal. I had another Champion with me for this one, plus we were already all prepared for a fight. It went a lot better than it did with-”

Everyone’s world dissolved into screeching, and most of them froze up, paralyzed by pure sound.

Ash just shook his head, then pushed himself up from the table, taking a look around to see what the situation was. Around him, he saw both Lillie’s and Lusamine’s Clefables moving, albeit slowly, and Pikachu looked mostly unaffected, albeit with his fur glowing with electricity.

“Somebody use Heal Bell!” Ash screamed over the din, then reached into his pocket for Dexter. A few quick button presses later, and Noivern’s Poké Ball appeared in his hand, which opened a moment later to release the Sound Wave Pokémon.

“Noivern, Hyper Voice! Try and cancel out the sound!” Noivern’s mouth opened, and after a moment, Ash felt the sound weaken, and then die down to nothing, Noivern’s ears still vibrating.

This allowed the sound of a bell to be heard, and after a moment, the two Clefable had everyone else back on their feet.

“What’s going on?” asked Lillie.

Ash shook his head. “I think we’re under attack. That was a sound-based paralyzing device that I ran into in Sinnoh, when we were up against Team Galactic. I know Silph Co was analyzing the devices to make it easier to subdue hordes of Pokémon, but I- oh. Right. The break-in.”

“Hmm. I believe that we have noise cancellation technology installed as a base defense measure inspired by those same devices, but it’s all managed from the lower levels, and since it hasn’t already been activated, I believe the control room has been occupied.” Lusamine, frowned, then drew another Poké Ball. “Make yourself ready for combat, and I shall have Clefable teleport us there.”

Ash continued tapping at his Pokédex, browsing his battle options, then selected four, dispensing a Delta Ball, a Beast Ball, and two regular Poké Balls. “I’m all ready.”

“Hey, Ash. Why didn’t you get paralyzed by the weird sound wave thing?” asked Lillie as she made sure all of her Poké Balls were easily accessible.

Ash shrugged. “Not really sure. It didn’t work for Saturn or Charon when they tried it on me in Sinnoh, but no one ever managed to work it out.”

“Ah, okay.” Lillie turned to Lusamine, recalling her Clefable as she did so. “Ready, mother.”

The President of the Aether Foundation drew her mantle around her, transforming from a kind (albeit strict) mother to a fierce protector who could, if necessary, go toe to toe with all but the most powerful of Pokémon and come out on top. “Clefable, take us to the defense center.”

After blinking away spots left by the telltale flash of teleportation, the three trainers and Wicke looked at a pair of very confused thugs who were looking at them awkwardly from their position bent over the command console, who nonetheless rallied, sending out a Nidoking and a Dragalge after seeing the only three Pokémon ready to battle were Pikachu, Clefable, and Noivern.

Pikachu, of course, didn’t care about type matchups (or at least those that would protect against Electric attacks), and promptly blasted the two into unconsciousness with Thunderbolt.

Lusamine stepped forward in the direction of the control panel, and when the two grunts tried to step together and block her path, she just looked at them. Intimidated, they backed away, recalling their defeated Pokémon.

After pressing her palm to a dark rectangle on the console, Noivern visibly relaxed, the continuous sound it had been emanating no longer being necessary.

After a moment, Lusamine pulled up the surveillance feeds of the entire building on an array of screens built into the walls. “It appears that these intruders are trying to breach the research area, as well as the conservation and Ultra Space areas. I will go and reinforce the conservatorium, as that is where they are sending the greatest force. Lillie, I suggest you rally the Ultra Guardians, and Ash, I suggest you take care of those heading to the bottom levels. We don’t know how well Faba will recover from the paralysis.”

“Right!” came from two throats at once as the two friends turned to go accomplish their assigned tasks.

* * *

Ash pressed his palm to the panel on the triangular platform that Aether Paradise had instead of elevators, and once his security clearance had been checked, he jabbed his thumb into the button for the lowest floor, sending the elevator on its journey down several levels.

“You all ready, Pikachu?” he asked, having already recalled his Noivern.

“Pi-ka!” the Pokémon in question chirped, flashing his cheek spots as a warm-up.

After a teeth-grindingly long time later, the platform clicked into place, and before the multi-Champion rushed off, he took the time to focus and listen for the sounds of combat. That done, he charged off into a corridor, skidding around the corner to see-

“Faba? What are you doing?” Ash dearly hoped there was a good explanation as to why he was handing over a series of data drives to two thugs even as the three scientists fought valiantly to hold off a number more.

“I suppose you can consider it my resignation from the Aether Foundation.” He shrugged. “Lusamine’s organization was a good place for me to experiment with some things, but at this point, I’ve gotten all I can from it. It is time for the brilliance I have been hiding to shine through!”

Ash shook his head. “I’m disappointed in you, Faba. I thought you were a genuinely good teacher.” In one smooth motion, he sent all of his Poké Balls flying, releasing the five other Pokémon he had on his team.

“Noivern, Naganadel, Mismagius, help the scientists!” At his order, the three flying Pokémon darted over, with the telltale jingle of bells coming from the Delta Mismagius as it prepared an ice attack.

“Pidgeot, Greninja, take care of the other two Grunts! Focus more on Protean than on the bond!” The grunts in question threw out a Weavile and a Delta Lopunny, who managed to react in time and engage the two incredibly fast Pokémon.

Ash’s Pikachu leapt down from his shoulder, standing directly between the young trainer and Aether’s turncoat.

In return, Faba sent out his Claydol. “I cannot allow you to stop me!”

Ash just raised an eyebrow. “Did you forget about Overcharge?” With that, Pikachu’s cheeks glowed for a moment before Ash’s partner blasted the Claydol into unconsciousness with a Thunderbolt.

“Brat! You should surrender while you have the chance!” Faba sneered, releasing his Bruxish and Raichu at the same time.

Ash stepped back, presenting a smaller area for an errant attack to hit. “Pikachu, Rebound Shock! Try and bounce it between the two of them!”

Ash’s Pikachu let out a “Chu-PI!” as he created a modified Electro Ball, then slapped it forward with his tail, sending it shooting right for the Gnash Fish Pokémon, who flinched back as it rebounded off its flank with a snap of voltage, making a beeline for the Raichu hovering nearby.

Bruxish rushed forward, getting out of the rebound zone and getting space to dodge as it gathered psychic energy around its fangs, beelining for Pikachu’s tail, likely to try and cripple his ability to direct his energy.

The energy construct shattered on an Iron Tail, which slammed into the Bruxish’s actual teeth a moment later. This strike hurled it back, just in time to get slammed by the destabilizing Electro Ball, which burst and sent the Water-type into unconsciousness.

Raichu rose into the air, crackling with raw power, as Faba posed. “Take our ultimate power! Stoked Sparksurfer!”

The floating Pokémon charged down, bodily slamming itself into Pikachu. Lightningrod protected him from the energy coursing through his body, but he was still thrown back by the impact.

“Pikachu!” shouted Ash, although not before Pikachu pushed himself back up into a proper fighting stance. “Recharge, then close in!”

“Pi-ka!” The diminutive Pokémon threw out a bolt of energy towards the Raichu, which returned to him, restoring his stamina and allowing him to shake the dazedness of the impact off. Then, he drew a nimbus of electricity around himself, including the Thunderbolt the Raichu blasted at him, and blasted forward, hitting the Raichu with a Volt Tackle that was, somehow, more powerful than the attack that had sent him flying just a moment before.

It sent the Raichu shooting backwards, only barely missing Faba after he threw himself out of the way in a very undignified manner, and slammed right into one of the grunts’ Delta Lopunny, knocking the two Pokémon in question out and leaving an opening for Greninja to attack the already-flagging Weavile.

Faba growled as he got back to his feet, then released his Hypno and Alakazam, who began glowing with the multichromatic light of Mega Evolution.

“Greninja! Take it down, then activate Battle Bond!” Ash called, then pointed to the Hypno. In an instant, the ninja had arrived, slamming it with a Night Slash that, on the heels of Pikachu’s repetition of Parabolic Charge, dropped the Psychic-type, allowing Greninja to perform his own Forme change in time to dissipate a burst of psychic energy that targeted Pikachu with a quick Feint Attack.

“Gah! You are proving to be exceptionally annoying. Alakazam, Dazzling Gleam.” At Faba’s orders, a blast of Fairy light expanded out into the wide room, with only a last-minute Substitute protecting Greninja from its effects. Pikachu replied with a crackling Thunder Wave, which fizzled out as it neared the Mega.

“Ugh, I hate Trace. Pikachu, projectiles! Greninja, Psycho Cut! Keep it on its toes!” The two Pokémon both burst into motion, with Greninja forming shuriken of pure force to throw at the Alakazam, while Pikachu slammed an Iron Tail into the floor, sending rubble everywhere before picking up a piece of the polished metal floor, holding it between his paws for a moment before sending it blurring forward, breaking the sound barrier on its way to slam into the Alakazam’s defensive barrier, denting it but not breaking it.

“Enough of this facade! Remove them all!” At Faba’s order, Alakazam gestured, releasing a blast of psychic energy that swept everyone back except Greninja, who had allowed his use of Protean to lapse as he transformed into Ash-Greninja.

The Pokémon in question darted forward, slamming a Night Slash into and then through the Mega’s Reflect shield, throwing a Water Shuriken through the gap that broke on the Alakazam’s nose, splashing his eyes and forcing him to recoil, disrupting his concentration and allowing the floating people caught up in Alakazam’s Psychic to drop back to the floor.

“Pikachu, Quick Attack into Iron Tail! Greninja, keep up the Night Slashes!” Ash shouted, and the two Pokémon charged forward to complete their orders.

Ash’s partner blurred forward into a leap, then wrapped his tail in steely power, spinning into a downward strike while Greninja vanished in a puff of smoke, reappearing behind the Alakazam and swiping a blade of shadow upwards. The two attacks slammed into the Psychic-type from opposite directions, sending it spinning backwards. Once it came to a stop, it shimmered with a gray aura before dropping to the ground, unconscious from the backlash of being forcefully returned to its normal form.

“Bother.” Faba recalled the passed out Alakazam and returned the Poké Ball to his pocket, leaving his hand there as he looked around at the other toughs, who were all out of usable Pokémon.

“Why did you do this, Faba?” asked Ash.

Faba sneered. “I wouldn’t expect a child to understand the magnificence that would drive one such as me. My talents are underutilized by that insipid woman, and when Taen approached me about reaching my full potential among other scientists, well, the opportunity could not be missed.”

Ash started moving forward, intent on restraining Faba, before a massive **BANG!** split the air and, in a flash of light, Taen appeared alongside a Porygon-Z.

“Stymied by a child, eh, Faba?” Taen smirked, then snapped his fingers. His Porygon-Z, clearly understanding it as some sort of signal, raised both its arms and blasted out a Tri Attack from each, as well as launching one from its beak, throwing Ash back into a wall and doing a good job of pushing his Pokémon back. “Well, as fun as it’s been, we’ve got other things we could be doing, so ta for now!”

This teleport was silent and only put out a small flash, but when it faded, all the thugs were gone, as well as Faba and Taen.

Ash shook his head, then pushed himself out of the dent he had made by slamming into the wall. “Everyone okay?” he asked, rubbing the charred area on his shirt where the attack had hit home.

Various grumblings from the scientists, who were still rubbing spots from their eyes, seemed to point to yes.

“Ash!” Lillie ran into the room just ahead of Lusamine. “Are you okay?”

He waved them off. “It’s fine, it’s fine. It just feels like a sunburn.” He pulled out Poké Balls and began calling back his Pokémon. “How’d it go up top?”

Lusamine stepped forward. “Ash, I think it would be for the best if you came and got checked out by our medical division. You did take an attack from a Pokémon, after all.”

Once again, Ash waved them off. “I’m fine! Aura adepts are hardier than normal folk, and I’ve been burned harder by Charizard.”

“Be that as it may, I must insist that you come to the infirmary, so you can explain to me what happened to Mr. Faba.” Lusamine turned and stalked out of the room, beckoning for everyone to follow her.

Realizing that she wasn’t going to budge on this, Ash hurried to catch up. “Okay, you know how Faba has all sorts of pride in his intelligence?”

* * *

Once again, the teleport left Taen and his guests to fall to the floor from a height of a few inches.

Taen turned to Faba, anger rising off him in waves, as the other operatives took that as their cue to evacuate the area so as to avoid becoming collateral damage.. “What, exactly, happened that you were unable to leave on your own?”

Faba stepped back defensively. “The Ketchum boy is a powerful opponent, and I am not a true fighter. My strengths lie in science, not in the struggle!”

Taen closed his eyes for a long moment, then turned his back on Faba. “Go. Make yourself useful. Charon has the genetic sequencer ready, so you might as well make use of that while I report to our leader.”

He heard Faba’s footsteps recede into another room, and only when he was sure the arrogant scientist had entered another room did he force the anger down and move to activate the hologram projector and transmitter he used to make his reports. After only a moment, a high-collared silhouette appeared.

“Sir, the raid on Aether Paradise was a success. We retrieved the data we need, and we managed to avoid capture, no thanks to Faba.” This last phrase was said under his breath, but the microphones still picked it up and transmitted it.

“What complications did you encounter?” asked Reukra.

“The Ketchum boy was there. He nearly captured Faba, and I had to rescue him and those we sent to retrieve him.” Taen’s jaw was tight as he said this.

Reukra nodded. “He was personally tutored by Amber, it should be no surprise that he’s a formidable battler. There is no easy way to account for either of their movements, nor those of Samuel Oak or Team Rocket’s Elite Units, so you and your operatives should always be prepared for any of them to interfere with your operations. Anything else?”

“No, sir.”

“Then join your fellow scientists. There is much work to be done.” Before Taen could respond, the hologram lost cohesion and dissipated, indicating that Reukra had disconnected.

Taen turned smartly on his heel and proceeded towards the lab that had been set up. What with the new data and the genetic samples from the Ultra Beasts and Type:Null, they could advance Mewtwo’s combat effectiveness by leaps and bounds, to say nothing of the ideas that Xerosic had already contributed thanks to his work with Xerneas, Yveltal and Zygarde. All they needed was time, and that was one thing they had in spades.

**Author's Note:**

> For the purposes of this AU, certain very powerful Pokémon can have multiple abilities. This includes legendaries (since they are, mostly, directly connected to an aspect of nature and can draw from it to power them), and the Pokémon of certain very powerful trainers, such as Lance, Cynthia (her Garchomp, for example, has both Sand Veil and Rough Skin), and indeed Ash. In this case, his Pikachu has Lightningrod on top of a new ability, which I’m calling Overcharge, that came from when he was trying to power up before rematching Brock. This ability ignores all immunities and resistances to Electric attacks granted by typing and also nullifies the effect of another Pokémon’s Overcharge on him. So, for argument’s sake, if he were fighting a double battle against a Garchomp and an Electrivire with Motor Drive and used Discharge, he’d deal neutral damage to the Garchomp, but no damage to the Electivire because of Motor Drive.
> 
> No, Pikachu can’t normally learn Parabolic Charge. No, Ash doesn’t care what’s normally possible.


End file.
